Deborah Baker will become senior vice president for nursing for the Johns Hopkins Health System on July 1. The first to hold this new position, she will also continue to serve as the vice president of nursing and patient care services for The Johns Hopkins Hospital, a role she has held since September 2015.

As the health system’s first senior vice president for nursing, Baker will partner with the chief nursing officers at Johns Hopkins’ five other hospitals to ensure integration of services and alignment with the health system’s strategic goals and objectives.

“Throughout her accomplished career here, Deb has exhibited a talent for building coalitions and leading in complex environments, leveraging her extensive institutional and clinical knowledge, and developing constructive business relationships across diverse groups,” Ronald R. Peterson, president of The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System, said in announcing Baker’s promotion.

Baker earned her bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. She joined the staff of The Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1992 as a clinical nurse in the Department of Surgery, quickly demonstrating her leadership ability and advancing to hold a number of increasingly responsible clinical and administrative positions in the hospital. Last year, she became the hospital’s interim vice president of nursing and patient care services.